Council just wants the Salvation Army’s word that the organization will have a maximum of 140 beds in a new emergency shelter, rather than writing the measure into the land-use bylaw for the Vanier property.

Mayor Jim Watson said the city couldn’t enforce the number of shelter beds, so he worked with Fleury and Alta Vista Coun. Jean Cloutier on a replacement motion.

“We didn’t believe you could put that kind of restriction in a zoning bylaw. That was the staff report back to us,” Watson said after the council meeting.

Watson said asking the Salvation Army to commit to a maximum of 140 shelter bids achieves the same goal.

“I’m a little bit disappointed because this motion has no teeth and it doesn’t prevent them from five years from now saying things have changed and we need additional beds,” SOS Vanier organizer Drew Dobson said.

Dobson said a bylaw restriction would have at least forced the Salvation Army to apply to council for any changes to the number of shelter beds.

Land-use changes that allow Salvation Army’s development plan are under appeal at the Ontario Municipal Board.

Ottawa’s first legal marijuana grow-op receives land-use approval

Farmland outside Greely can be transformed into Ottawa’s first legal marijuana grow operation, council decided.

Artiva, the cannabis arm of LiveWell Foods, wants to convert food production greenhouses on Ramsayville Road to marijuana production, making the property Ottawa’s first marijuana grow facility.

Artiva, the medical cannabis arm of LiveWell Foods, plans to establish the grow-op at 5130-5208 Ramsayville Rd. near the Hawthorne Industrial Park. Existing greenhouses on the land will be converted into cannabis facilities.

The city doesn’t oppose the application because Artiva’s operation wouldn’t disturb good farming soil; the company is simply repurposing the 549,000 square feet of vegetable greenhouse space.

One neighbour expressed concern about the impact on wells during an agriculture and rural affairs committee meeting earlier this month, but farm owner Peter Abboud predicted there will be less water used when the operation switches to cannabis.

Special levy in Britannia Village pays for flood protection

Landowners of 96 properties in Britannia Village will start paying a special levy for flood protection in the community.

In May 2017, Britannia residents surveyed the sandbags in front of their home at the end of Jamieson Street beside Britannia Bay as flooding continued throughout the region.Wayne Cuddington /
Postmedia

Council voted to start charging a special levy on their 2018 tax bills.

The city will raise $195,000 over 10 years from those properties, in addition to regular property taxes. It’s half of the price of the flood protection measures planned in 2006. The city paid the other half and the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority organized the work, which included a berm, modifications to a retaining wall and other drainage improvements.

The city has also used provincial funding to improve flood protection in the village. The total investment has been about $2 million, which paid off during the 2017 floods along the Ottawa River.

Council approves Rochester Field deal

Council approved the deal between the city and the National Capital Commission on the location of two development parcels in Rochester Field in Westboro.

Development will be allowed in the yellow-coloured parcels in this map of Rochester Field.OTTwp

The NCC has the go-ahead to put buildings on the southern edge of the field along Richmond Road. A path between the development parcels will remain open, giving people access to parkland south of the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway.

The agreement flows from a deal between the city and the NCC on the western LRT route. The NCC will let the city build LRT in the parkway corridor in the Stage 2 rail extension, and in return, the NCC can develop part of Rochester Field without having to appeal municipal land-use rules.

The NCC previously wanted development to happen in the northeast section of Rochester Field but later asked to put future buildings along Richmond Road instead. It’s controversial for some residents who don’t want a barrier between the street and parkland.

Council tweaked the land-use rules on Wednesday to allow a seven-storey building on the eastern parcel and provide a wider path leading to the park. The previous proposal was to keep both development parcels at six storeys.

$10M ‘Christmas miracle’ funding divvied up for asset repair

Council voted in favour of a spending plan for $10 million in extra asset repair funding.

The money, what some called a “Christmas miracle” coming from the 2017 budget surplus, will be spread across all but four of the 23 wards: Alta Vista, Rideau-Rockcliffe, Rideau-Vanier and Somerset.

Spending varies in the other 19 wards.

City staff used the asset management plan to determine which projects would be funded with the extra $10 million. Projects received high priority based on current asset conditions, co-ordination with other projects and their ability to be completed in 2018.

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Eleven items were on the agenda when Eugene Melnyk and John Ruddy met with Mayor Jim Watson and senior city staff in the mayor’s boardroom last August, including “evidence of partnership” and “plans for Kanata.